Theatrical-scenery trimmer



Patented January 19, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT .OFFICE.

JOHN R. CLANCY," oF SYRACUSE, VNEWIYORK.

THEATRlCAL-SCENERY TRIMMER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 749,981, dated January 19, 1904.

Application filed December 's, 1902. Serial No. 134,284.: (No model.) i

To 00 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN R. OLANUY, a citizen of the United States,and'aresident of Syracuse, in the county-of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Theatrical-Scenery Trimmers, of which the following, taken .in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This'invention relates to devices employed in theaters for raising and lowering heavy scenery suspended from ropes running over pulleys and operated by hands of the sp-called .flyman. To facilitate this operation, it has been customary to apply to the said ropes a counterweight, usually of the form of a sandbag tied to the entire set of the ropes. method, however, of tying the ropes together in applying the counterweight thereto prevents the flyman from operating any one of the ropes separately so as to trim the scene into proper position, said trimming being required to compensate for the variations in the shrinkages of the ropes of differentlengths due to varying degrees of humidity in the atmosphere.

The object of this invention is to provide simple, inexpensive, andeflicient means for obviating the said inability of trimming the scenery; and to that end the invention consists in novel features of the details of the scenerytrimming device, all as hereinafter more fully described, and set forth in the claims. v

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 present front views ofv theatrical scenery equipped with my invention for trimming said scenery, and Figs. 3 and L are enlarged detached face views of my preferred form of the tackle which constitutes the salient feature of my invention.

In the said drawings, C represents the theatrical scenery, which is movable vertically This My invention resides in the employment of a suitable tackle T, which is applied to the lines a a a for the purpose of compensating for thevarying lengths of said lines. My preferred construction of said tackle consists of arigidly-constructed metallic frame formed of two armse e, which converge upwardly and are joined at their upper ends. The lower ends of the two'arms are united by a crossbar, which is formed withan eyeor jbecketf.

The junction of the upper ends of said arms is formed with an upward extensiong, which may be of the shape of a becket g or have pivoted to it a pulley g as shown, respectively, in Figs. 3 and 4: of the drawings. In the upper junction of the arms 6 e is pivoted a pulley it, and in the lower end'of each of said arms is pivoted a pulley h. Inusing the said tackle on a scenery of moderate dimensions I tie or fasten by means of suitable clips the upper becket g of the tackle to the center line a at a short distance beneath the head-block c and tie to the lower becket f a suitable counterweight c, as represented in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Through the tackle T passes a rope a which I designate the compensating rope in contradistinction to the other ropes herein referred.

to. This compensating rope runs upon the top ofthe upper pulley h and from thence down to the inner and under sides of the lower pulleys-h h, from whence it extends and is attached to the carrying-ropes a a, usually termed prompt and opposite-prompt lines, respectively. The tackle T may also be used without the aid of the counterweight i by fastening the ends of the compensating rope a to the ends of the prompt and opposite-prompt lines a a. In this case the end of the central line a is attached to the upper becket g of the tackle, and a rope or fall is attached to the lower becket f and secured to the pin-rail t at the fly-gallery D or to suitable fastening devices on the floor'or wall of the building.

In many large theaters four carrying ropes or lines are sometimes used. In that caseitheupper becket of the tackle would be made of the form of a pulley g pivoted to the upward extension g and riding upon a rope 0, which unites the central lines a a beneath the head-blocks c 0, so as to practically form a continuous rope, as illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings. To the lower becket f is attached a fall or operating rope Z, the lower end of which is connected to the pin-rail t. The compensating rope a passes through the tackle Tin the manner hereinbefore described and is connected at its ends to the prompt and opposite-prompt lines a a, which may be terminated a short distance beneath the headblocks a c, and thus leave only the rope Z to be manipulated by the flyman.

Either of the described connections of the tackle T to the carrying ropes or lines of the scenery Will permit each or all of said ropes to be easily operated, so that the scenery can be properly trimmed and adjusted either by manipulation of the ropes or by the allowance of automatic compensation for the expansions and contractions of the ropes due to atmospheric changes causing greater variations in the lengths of the longer ropes than in those of the shorter ropes.

WVhat I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination with a suspended theatrical scenery and a plurality of ropes connected respectivelyto the central and the end portions of said scenery, of a tackle-frame suspended from the central rope, a plurality of pulleys pivoted to different parts of said frame, and a compensating rope traversing said pulleys and connected to the end ropes as set forth.

2. The combination, with a theatrical scenery and a plurality of carrying-ropes suspending said scenery, of a tackle-frame provided at its upper and lower portions With pulleys pivoted to said frame and with a becket above the upper pulley and a becket on the bottom of the frame, means for fastening the upper becket to the central carrying-rope, a fall or manipulating rope connected to the bottom becket, and acompensating rope passing from the top of the upper pulley to the inner and under sides of the lower pulleys and attached at its ends to the ropes carrying the ends of the scenery as set forth.

JOHN R. OLANCY. Witnesses:

J. J. LAASS, W. H. MEIER, Jr. 

